Turkmenistan 1999

In 1999, Turkmenistan had a population of around 4 million people. The economy of Turkmenistan was heavily reliant on its exports of natural gas and oil, which generated most of the country’s income. Foreign relations in 1999 were strained with neighbouring countries due to border disputes and water rights. Politically, Turkmenistan was a closed country that was governed by an authoritarian leader. Human rights abuses were rampant in the country and there was little freedom of speech or political opposition allowed. The government also maintained strict control over the media in order to prevent any criticism or dissent from being expressed publicly. See ethnicityology for Turkmenistan in the year of 2018.

Yearbook 1999

Turkmenistan 1999

Turkmenistan. Visit Countryaah official website to get information about the capital city of Turkmenistan. President Saparmurat Nijazov signed a decree on the moratorium on the death penalty in January. It was then reported that about 700 people the previous year had been convicted of arch-robbery, the vast majority for drug offenses. It was unclear how many had been executed. At the end of the year, a law on definitive abolition of the death penalty was signed.

  • Also see Abbreviationfinder.org to see the acronym of TKM which stands for Turkmenistan and other definitions of this 3-letter abbreviation.

Map of Turkmenistan Ashgabat in English

During the year it became clear that a pipeline will be built for gas exports from Turkmenistan through the Caspian Sea and via Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. At the OSCE summit in Istanbul in November, agreements were signed between the four countries. The decision is a great economic and political success for Turkmenistan. The gas flow forecast is 30 billion cubic meters per year, and close to half will go to the European market. The plans are expected to be completed by the end of 2002, and the construction is expected to cost SEK 17 billion. An American consortium will be responsible for the construction. But despite the country’s gas and oil wealth, the majority of the population is poor with an average monthly income of about SEK 150.

Turkmenistan is a member of the CIS but wants to pursue a strict neutrality policy. Therefore, during the year, the country withdrew from a border agreement with the Russian Federation and introduced visa requirements for citizens of the CIS countries.

The country’s highest representative body, the People’s Council, met in December to discuss making Nijazov president for life. He had then ruled the country for 14 years, held almost single power and surrounded himself with an extensive cult of people. However, Nijazov himself rejected the proposal for a lifetime mandate.

The OSCE nevertheless strongly criticized the lack of democracy in Turkmenistan and noted that it was not meaningful to send observers to the parliamentary elections in December.

All parties were banned except President Nijazov’s Democratic Party, but some independent candidates took part in the election. According to official data, 95% of eligible voters voted. But it was reported that election officials went with ballots to the homes and tried to persuade people to vote. The regime also distributed gifts to first-time voters to attract them to the polling stations.

Population

The population of Turkmenistan, according to estimates (2009), is almost 5,000,000 residents, with an increase of about 40% compared to the last census of the USSR (3,534,000 in 1989). The annual rate of demographic increase remains quite high (1.14%), due to the continuation of a traditional type of regime, characterized by high fertility rates (about 3 children per woman) and birth rates (19.6 ‰) and from mortality rates (6.3 ‰) and infant mortality (45.3 ‰) constantly decreasing. The migratory flows, which mainly concerned the Russian and Uzbek minorities in the years following independence, increased the ethnic homogeneity of the population, now 85% Turkmen, 5% Uzbeks and 4% from Russians. The density is very low (10 residents/km2) and yet little indicative of the actual distribution of the population. The latter is concentrated, in fact, on just 1/6 of the territory, in particular along the line of the Trans-Caspian Railway to the south, along the Karakumy Channel in the middle section of the country, along the Amudar′ja to the north. It is in these areas that the main cities are located: the capital, Ašgabat, which alone hosts almost 1/8 of the Turkmen population, Čardžou (or Türkmenabat) and Mary, the only other cities with a population of over 100,000, Tasauz and Nebit Dag. The urbanization index is close to 49%.

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